


all the pretty girls on a saturday night

by serenitysea



Series: we are the architects of light { lara 'verse } [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic, emmy fitzsimmons is smarter than you, lara gets her stubbornness from both parents AHEM, ward is fiercely protective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-06 22:50:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3151262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenitysea/pseuds/serenitysea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>lara attends her first sleepover without her cousin. </p><p>(it sort of doesn't go totally to plan.) </p><p>...also tony stark makes a guest appearance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	all the pretty girls on a saturday night

**Author's Note:**

> \+ this was written for a prompt fill on my tumblr ~~lara headcanons & prompts are still open~~
> 
> \+ lara belongs exclusively to meeeeeee (well, and skye and ward, of course) and if you're wondering more about her, please check out my tumblr (link below) because that's where you can get the scoop!

”’ _Go the sleepover_ ,’” Lara mutters, huddled under the covers. “’ _It’ll be fun_ ,’ they said.”  
  
She casts a glance at the thick blanket that keeps obscuring her vision and sighs heavily.   
  
This _sucks_.   
  
*   
  
"I think it’s a great idea," Skye finishes off the last of her report to Coulson and looks up at Ward for confirmation.   
  
Ward seems to be watching his daughter with more than the usual attention. “It is,” he slowly agrees, though it doesn’t seem to carry the usual weight as his other decisions.   
  
"Okay." Lara nods resolutely. "I’ll go."  
  
When Skye leaves the room to dig out an appropriate ‘slumber party’ bag, Ward snags Lara by the waist and plops her on the couch next to him. (Someday she’ll be bigger and it will be more difficult to do this… but today is not that day.)  
  
"If at any point you don’t want to stay there, just pick up the phone and call me." He raises his eyebrows firmly. "I mean it, Lara."  
  
She sighs heavily. “It’ll be fine.”   
  
*  
  
When Ward drops her off at the house later, he says her name in that way when he means _business_.   
  
"I want you to know that I think what you’re doing is very brave." His eyes are firm but kind and it is such a familiar expression that it makes her heart swell.  
  
This time, Lara is the one raising her eyebrows. “It’s just a sleepover, Dad.”   
  
"The first one you’ve ever been to without your cousin."   
  
The butterflies in her stomach come back in force. “Thanks for the reminder,” she mutters, scrambling out of the car. She waves goodbye over her shoulder and allows herself to be sucked into the world of squealing girl talk and dangerous amounts of candy.  
  
*   
  
While everyone else is watching the movie, Lara thumbs open her tablet and pulls up Skype. She sighs.   
  
Emmy’s status has been set to _~ away with science!_ for the past six hours. Prior to that, Lara had been getting ready for the sleepover while Emmy had been sleeping, and before _that_ , Lara had been asleep.   
  
They keep missing each other.   
  
She hates this.   
  
*   
  
She knows it’s a bad idea even as she sends the message but figures that there isn’t much she can do about it after the fact.   
  
"Sprocket." Tony Stark’s face fills the entire screen (despite the fact that she had initiated a text-only message.) Then he frowns. "Why is everything so dark?"  
  
"I’m stuck at a sleepover," Lara tells him, pinching frantically at the corners of the tablet to make his face smaller.   
  
(It doesn’t work.)   
  
The horrified look on his face is worth it. “Sounds like torture.”   
  
"You have _no_ idea.”   
  
Tony is all too happy to serve as a distraction and immediately yanks her into a discussion regarding the latest prank Clint has played on the team (which is nothing new, because Clint is forever pranking the team) and about what kind of retaliation should be served and who should be commandeered into the organizing and laying out of said warfare.  
  
(These are really the best kind of conversations, because Tony always takes her ideas very seriously and has used them in the past — to great success.)  
  
They talk about Jarvis and Pepper and whether or not it would be a gross misuse of her position as his favorite niece (which she knows he says to Emmy, too) to take one of the StarkJets and fly to where Emmy is doing her work study.   
  
Tony glances at something off screen and looks at her very seriously, all humor erased from his expression. “You want me to get in the suit and come get you?”  
  
Something unfurls warmly in her chest. “Nah,” Lara says, smiling a little. “But thanks for the offer.”   
  
He gives her that scrutinizing look she sometimes gets when the weather goes just a bit _off_ outside Avengers Tower while they’re visiting and he thinks she’s not being entirely truthful when she says she had nothing to do with it (by reciting the carefully constructed answer that Emmy insisted she memorize).   
  
"It’s only twenty seven minutes from Manhattan," he concludes, and she can hear Jarvis in the background politely stating that _it is in fact, a bit longer than that, Sir_. “There are a few things on the suit I need to test. Might be worth it to do a fly by.”  
  
This time the smile broadens into a grin. “I’ll let you know.”   
  
"Fair deal. Give ‘em hell, kiddo."  
  
*  
  
The girls are excitedly talking about playing Manhunt outside and Lara feels like there is this band just _squeezing_ around her chest. It isn’t that anyone has been mean or not included her in their activities it’s just — she’s not used to this.   
  
There isn’t a single person here who knows what it’s like to grow up in an underground bunker or pop into her bedroom with rapid fire discussions of _Science!_ or complain loudly that someone _borrowed_ their gun and forgot to put it back in its place _that’s right i’m talking to you, hunter_.   
  
She forgets that she’s supposed to be keeping a tighter hold on her emotions and excuses herself to use the restroom and when she crawls inside the tub, she finally lets loose the tears she’s been keeping at bay all night.  
  
The rain outside comes down in _sheets_.  
  
*  
  
Manhunt is canceled.   
  
*  
  
Seven minutes into her self-induced lecture of how disappointed she is that she had lost control of her abilities, a message from Emmy pops up on her tablet.   
  
It is shortly followed by her face taking up the screen.   
  
(Because of course Tony gave her the override protocols too. She’s his _other_ favorite niece.)  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
Lara almost sobs in relief, then tells herself quite firmly to get a grip. “I thought you were busy work-studying,” and the level of normalcy in her voice is a thing of beauty.   
  
Her cousin sees right through it, of course. “There was a torrential downpour twenty minutes ago and the forecast had been clear for the rest of the week. What’s going on?”  
  
Because of _course_ Emmy is monitoring the weather halfway across the world to keep an eye out.   
  
"I’m stuck at a sleepover." Repeating it almost makes it seem like she’s reciting facts, the way Dad sometimes tells her to when she has to talk about things that make her very sad. (Mom always gets very quiet when this happens and usually leaves the room not long after.)   
  
Emmy thankfully doesn’t need her to say anything else to put the pieces together. “And you hate it.”   
  
"I just feel like the odd man out."   
  
She glances at her watch, does the math in her head. “Shouldn’t you all be going to bed soon?”  
  
"I _wish_ ,” Lara sighs. “They’re all hopped up on sugar and teeny movies. They’re _never_ going to sleep.”   
  
"What can I do?"  
  
Lara wants to tell her to _come home_ already but she knows that isn’t fair. She shrugs. “Tell me about science. But not something interesting because I wouldn’t mind falling asleep at this point.”  
  
Emmy looks briefly outraged at the thought of _not interesting science_ but something in Lara’s expression must hold her back.   
  
Then she begins to detail her work-study findings at great length, taking care to use the largest words in her vocabulary (and many that Lara has never before heard; which is truly saying something when FitzSimmons are your godparents) until she becomes aware of a light snore.   
  
Lara is asleep.   
  


**Author's Note:**

> \+ [tumblr](http://b-isforbombshell.tumblr.com).
> 
> \+ title is from _all the pretty girls_ by **fun.**


End file.
